Nadal will never reach no 1 again.

Why would Nadal quit on a season if he was not injured? Getting back to maximum abilities is a process; he surely understands that.

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Because he doesn't care for tennis as much anymore. He has seen the life he can have without playing and he will work the bare minimum he needs in order to keep his name up there on the rankings. He doesn't care for tennis, he isn't even playing for himself anymore.

If he only gets to the semifinals of Roland Garros and wins a Master without doing anything else, he will end the year ranked at #20. I doubt he will be doing that much to start with, so him ending 2013 at #20 is very plausible.

Sure, but he's #4 having played just half the 2012 season. It's insane to think he'll drop down to #20 just 1 year later, particularly when he is likely to play the whole season in 2013. Even if he just plays the Clay Season, he will still comfortably be in the top 10, even if he doesn't win RG.

Sure, but he's #4 having played just half the 2012 season. It's insane to think he'll drop down to #20 just 1 year later, particularly when he is likely to play the whole season in 2013. Even if he just plays the Clay Season, he will still comfortably be in the top 10, even if he doesn't win RG.

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What happened to that "protected" ranking system you could use when you're injured?

Sure, but he's #4 having played just half the 2012 season. It's insane to think he'll drop down to #20 just 1 year later, particularly when he is likely to play the whole season in 2013. Even if he just plays the Clay Season, he will still comfortably be in the top 10, even if he doesn't win RG.

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I just don't see him playing the full season next year, he's had too much fun off the tour this year to really be taken seriously anymore (in my opinion). He hasn't been injured for a while. The guy is the clay GOAT, but he's slacking off a little.

Federer is praying for it no doubt about that. If Nadal doesn't retire soon, Federer will end up with a 2-13 record vs Nadal at the slams. 2-8 so far, including 5 in a row, and only 2 of those 5 have been at Roland Garros.

If he only gets to the semifinals of Roland Garros and wins a Master without doing anything else, he will end the year ranked at #20. I doubt he will be doing that much to start with, so him ending 2013 at #20 is very plausible.

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Unless he retires from the game permanently, there is NO way that is going to happen. NO way. It is wishful thinking on your part and I say this as a Federer fan.

Why do people insist on making these threads? Better yet, why do I still keep responding to them? *sigh* alright here it goes.

Nadal will still have his openings to return to the #1 position. Federer and Murray I feel will not keep up with Nadal, especially on clay and grass at this point. All of it hinges on Novak's performance. If he goes down early, then it's a safe bet to assume that if it happened to be a clay and grass tourny, then Nadal has the green light for the title. How far this extends into hard court season is another matter, he never really exerted any true displays of dominance on hard courts for an extended period. It seems too much to ask to go up against the three best hard-court players of this generation. But who knows, a lot of what I already said also is based on Nadal returning to regular form. I could be totally wrong and Nadal comes out and never returns to any semblance of his former level.

In other words, speculation at best. Everyone was saying Fed never had it in him to return to #1 in 08, 10 and 11; look what happened. Anything can happen at this point

I just don't see him playing the full season next year, he's had too much fun off the tour this year to really be taken seriously anymore (in my opinion). He hasn't been injured for a while. The guy is the clay GOAT, but he's slacking off a little.